Chapter 981

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Seeing his daughter cry, even Liang Xinghua's hardest heart softened.

He hurried into the rental house, picked up his daughter, and comforted her:

"Lanlan, don't cry, Daddy's here, don't cry."

In Liang Xinghua's arms, Liang Ailan sobbed:

"Daddy, don't leave again, okay? We want to be together happily..."

Liang Xinghua's eye sockets reddened; he forced himself not to shed tears.

His daughter was the apple of his eye; agreeing to give his daughter to Lan Menglian back then was truly a helpless measure — after all, he was all alone, had to work during the day, and even if he got custody of his daughter, he couldn't take care of her.

He couldn't very well let his daughter follow him to the construction site to play with cement, could he?

"Lanlan, be good. Daddy has to go earn money. With money I'll buy you tasty snacks, pretty dresses, and take you to the amusement park."

Liang Xinghua patiently comforted his daughter.

But from behind came Lan Menglian's cold, mocking sneers:

"You earn a fart's worth of money — three thousand a month, is that money? Useless trash! You still have the nerve to say earn money! Lanlan, don't listen to your dad's nonsense; he's just a waste who can't earn money for us!"

Undermined by Lan Menglian like this, Liang Xinghua was furious.

For a split second he even wanted to turn around and give Lan Menglian a resounding slap.

But thinking of his daughter, he swallowed it.

He couldn't let his daughter witness a violent scene; otherwise it would cause irreversible trauma to her young heart.

"Why don't you scram already! Staying the night? There's no bed for you here!"

Lan Menglian continued her verbal assault on Liang Xinghua, spewing words more poisonous than poison.

"Mommy, don't let Daddy go, okay? Waaah..."

Liang Ailan started crying again.

Lan Menglian didn't care about her daughter's feelings in the slightest; she snatched the still-bawling girl from Liang Xinghua's arms and then drove him away:

"You scram right now! It's all your fault — if you hadn't come she wouldn't be crying; the moment you show up she cries like she's seen a ghost!"

Though Lan Menglian wasn't highly educated, the words she spoke were truly sharp.

Liang Xinghua could only leave in a sorry state.

He couldn't really get into a fight with Lan Menglian, could he?

He could only endure.

As he turned to leave, he could still hear his daughter's heart-rending cries behind him:

"Daddy, Daddy, don't go! Daddy, Daddy, come back! Don't abandon Lanlan! Waaah..."

Liang Xinghua didn't look back; he just lowered his head and wiped the corner of his eye.

At that moment he swore: when the time was ripe, he would definitely fight to win back custody of his daughter.

Liang Xinghua got into the driver's seat, took out a cigarette and smoked one; the turbulent emotions in his heart calmed somewhat, and only then did he drive toward Zhong Liying's rental house.

Zhong Liying had already prepared a late-night snack for him — simple, just a plate of dry-fried beef noodles.

"You're back! Come taste my cooking!"

Zhong Liying greeted him with a smile; seeing Liang Xinghua's expression was off, she couldn't help asking:

"What's wrong?"

Liang Xinghua looked at Zhong Liying very seriously and asked a question:

"Liying, if I bring my daughter to live with us, would you mind?"

Zhong Liying's expression froze for a moment.

She didn't know how to answer for a while.

She wasn't mentally prepared for this.

To say she wouldn't mind — that would definitely be a lie.

After all, she wasn't the one who gave birth to her.

But she also knew that being with Liang Xinghua meant she had to accept his flaws — for example, that he'd been married before, that his parents had both passed away, that he was older.

"Why bring this up suddenly?"

Zhong Liying was silent for a moment, then asked this question.

Liang Xinghua then told Zhong Liying honestly what he'd seen when he went to find his ex-wife.

After finishing, he couldn't help complaining:

"I just don't get it — that rental place is only about ten square meters, such a tiny room, how can it be covered in garbage everywhere, even the bed piled high with trash? How can she be so slovenly, not even clean up a bit? It's not fit for human habitation!"

Zhong Liying listened quietly to Liang Xinghua's venting.

Liang Xinghua continued:

"Also, my ex-wife just isn't human. I finally managed to go back once, and she actually badmouthed and belittled me in front of my daughter, saying all kinds of awful things about me. I wanted to spend more time with my daughter, but she wouldn't allow it — she was in a rush to chase me away!"

At this Zhong Liying suddenly blurted out:

"Did you do something to let down the two of them, mother and daughter?"

Liang Xinghua didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

"Heaven and earth as my witness — how could I possibly do something to let them down? Before the divorce I worked myself to death just so the two of them could live a better life. It's just that back then I lacked the ability and could only earn three or four thousand a month. The result? My ex-wife looked down on me with such disdain, like I was a piece of shit! No matter what I did, it was wrong — as if I'd committed some capital crime!"

Speaking of this, Liang Xinghua looked at Zhong Liying, with a hint of plea:

"Liying, can you accept my daughter? She's very well-behaved and sensible."

Zhong Liying lowered her head:

"The way things are now, your ex-wife raises her, and you go visit every short term — isn't that pretty good?"

Zhong Liying loves Liang Xinghua, but this love of hers, when it comes down to the bottom line, is still selfish.

Asking her to accept a daughter born to someone else is still not too easy.

After all, she will also have to give birth to children in the future.

"My ex-wife can't take care of her properly. Didn't I just say? Such a small rental house, and she makes it a mess of trash everywhere. My daughter following her will only suffer suffering and hardship. Who knows, when she grows up later, she might turn out the same kind of person as her — both incapable and sharp-tongued and mean!"

Zhong Liying looked up at Liang Xinghua:

"Let me consider it, okay?"

Hearing this, Liang Xinghua felt disappointed in his inner heart.

Although Zhong Liying didn't explicitly refuse, this attitude already explained everything.

But he also couldn't blame Zhong Liying.

If it were him, he also wouldn't be willing to help raise someone else's child.

"Alright then, whatever choice you make, I understand you."

Liang Xinghua sighed.

He ate a few bites of fried rice noodles, then stopped eating, turned around and went to the balcony to smoke.

Zhong Liying finished the remaining rice noodles, then went to wash the dishes.

"It's getting late, you hurry up and shower. After showering, go to sleep."

Zhong Liying called out to the figure standing on the balcony, then went into the bedroom.

This night, although the two shared the same bed and pillow, they spoke not a word all night.

Backs facing each other, both had their own worries on their minds.

Liang Xinghua was considering his daughter's future.

He didn't even dare to think deeply about it — his daughter growing up following Lan Menglian this kind of woman, what she would grow into in the future.

And Zhong Liying was considering her own future.

She didn't dare to think — raising a daughter born to someone else, and going home with Liang Xinghua to see her parents, what her parents' thoughts would be.

Liang Xinghua was more than ten years older than her — this was originally a point that invited gossip.

Without a child she could still accept it, but with a child, it really was a bit hard to accept.